Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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Bogfaimid ar aghaidh go Ceist Uimh. 11. Tá Ceist Uimh. 11 á tógáil le ceisteanna Uimh. 20, 23, 29, 34, 42, 62, 66 agus 79.

Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal East, Labour)
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11. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the urgent actions he and his Department will take to ensure that the 505 squadron at Casement Aerodrome at Baldonnel is fully staffed and will not be forced to continue to operate at 50% capacity and a reduced flying schedule; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29865/25]

Brian Stanley (Laois, Independent)
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20. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if he is aware that it has been reported that the Air Corps is to end 24-hour operations and reduce its service to an 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., five-day week from June 2025, as a crisis in air traffic control has reached a critical point; and if he will ensure that this will not be the case and that operations will be remaining in place 24-7 yearly. [30316/25]

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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23. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if he will address the impact of staffing shortages in the air traffic control unit at Baldonnel, which have resulted in the scaling back of operations to five-day coverage; if he is concerned that this reduction limits support to the Irish Coast Guard and restricts the ability to respond to crime, search and rescue, or emergency events outside of office hours; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30708/25]

Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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29. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the reason the Air Corps has reduced operations to a five-day work week. [31309/25]

Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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34. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence his plans for recruitment of air traffic control staff at Baldonnel Aerodrome; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30989/25]

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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42. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the measures that will be put in place to resume full-time flight operations at Casement Aerodrome as a matter of urgency. [30786/25]

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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62. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence for an update on plans to base Air Corps aircraft at Shannon Airport; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31129/25]

Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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66. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence when he was first apprised of the possibility of the Air Corps reducing its operational hours; if he received recommendations as to how the situation could be averted; and the actions he took to prevent the situation from arising. [31310/25]

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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79. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the measures he is taking to ensure the Air Corps remains fully operational at Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnel; his plans to recruit air traffic controllers and other personnel; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30283/25]

Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal East, Labour)
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What urgent actions will the Tánaiste and his Department take to ensure that the 505 squadron at Casement Aerodrome at Baldonnel is fully staffed and will not be forced to continue to operate at 50% capacity and at a reduced flying schedule?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 11, 20, 23, 29, 34, 42, 62, 66 and 79 together.

I thank Deputy Smith for this question. It is a very important one on an important issue; it is a critical matter. I have already set out to the House a number of immediate steps that I have taken to ensure the restricted air traffic control service operating in Baldonnel is restored to full service. In May, this issue was brought to the attention of my Department. It is a very frustrating issue, in many ways, because it shows how dependent we are on a very small number of people. I do not cast any aspersion on them; people are perfectly entitled to move and everything else, but it is a small number of people. If a certain number of people leave a service, the whole service finds itself at reduced capacity. We have got to move beyond that.

A request was made when I brought together the Chief of Staff, the head of the Air Corps and others that one of the practical measures the Government could take is to immediately introduce the service commitment scheme. There was a view, I think it is fair to say, from military leadership that this would be a significant and helpful step in ensuring the retention of people in the here and now to get the service back up and running to the 24-7 service that it needs. We took that decision on Tuesday at Cabinet. It is now a Government decision and it has been made. I have conveyed it to the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces and they can now, I say respectfully, get on with it in terms of engaging with any individuals who may benefit. I know it is something that is recognised as significant by the Air Corps. This is just one of a number of things that need to happen because I think - and certainly hope - it will get us to a much better place. I hope it gets us to that place relatively rapidly.

There are clearly other things that need to happen, many of which are on the operational side as well. I have said very clearly to the leadership of the Defence Forces and my own leadership that we need to see a rolling series of updates on what they are doing in implementing the various recommendations. We have, as I said, introduced a service commitment scheme for air traffic control personnel. We have approved new promotion opportunities within the service. We are also open to the outsourcing of aspects of training provided. All of these individual actions are now in train and are aimed at ensuring that both existing personnel and those known to be considering leaving the service are actively incentivised to remain.

These actions build on other specific measures that have already been initiated as regards recruitment. It is important now that we see that action.

It is unusual - and I hope this shows the sense of urgency we are attaching to this - to take these steps outside of a pay process or outside of local bargaining. Local bargaining was the route through which I think the Government and others would have originally envisaged these matters being considered. The fact that we have separated this from local bargaining highlights the critical nature of getting this matter resolved.

Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal East, Labour)
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Indeed. The fact that this had to take place outside of collective agreements highlights how unusual it is, and I acknowledge the Tánaiste's action on this. However, the reason this has happened is underpinned by a structural issue in terms of our airfields in the Dublin region, specifically Weston aerodrome. The Irish Times has reported that we have been losing technicians to the privately owned Weston aerodrome, which operates the privately run Coast Guard service. A ten-year, €670 million public contract underpins Weston aerodrome. We now know that some Garda operations are taking place out of Weston and we are having a brain drain from our public service from Baldonnel into Weston. We are fighting an uphill battle because of that. We talked about manifestos earlier. As per our manifesto, we do not understand why a publicly run Coast Guard service cannot operate out of Baldonnel or Dublin Airport, as previously spoken about. That is the structural issue at play here.

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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It is of little good spending €2.5 billion on jet flight capability if we are operating on a nine-to-five, weekday basis. Can we have some assurance that full-time flight operations at Casement will be brought back online at the earliest possible opportunity? Can we also have assurance that the air ambulance service is not affected?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Yes and yes. Yes, the plan is to get the service back up and running on a 24-7 basis as quickly as possible. The exact timeline for that, to be blunt, depends on the individual conversations the Air Corps leadership is having with individual people in terms of air traffic control. Those conversations are under way and I am hoping for a readout with an update on that very shortly. There are provisions in place to ensure the continuance of the emergency air ambulance, which I think is based in Athlone, generally. I do not want to be pedantic because the service is not operating at full capacity in terms of hours, but it is operating from eight to eight as opposed to nine to five. Those are the current operational hours, with contingency arrangements in place outside of those hours as well.

Deputy Smith is correct. I will not get into the specifics around any individual commercial enterprise other than to say it is factually true to say there has been an increase in commercial activity in this area even since the 2021 report was carried out. We are operating in an environment where we have a global shortage of air traffic controllers and increased commercial competition for air traffic controllers. Those two factors were decisive in saying we need to go ahead with the service commitment scheme in the here and now to make sure that working in the Air Corps, as well as being a huge commitment to the security of our State and public service, is sustainable for people who have families, mortgages and lives like everybody else. We had an earlier question from Deputy Crowe on this. It raises a broader issue of those pinch points where there are specialist personnel who are significantly qualified, very happy to join the Air Corps and very proud to serve, but after a number of years other opportunities present themselves and, as per human nature, people will be attracted to them too. We will have to do a deep dive rather than play whack-a-mole such that it is this today and that tomorrow in terms of those pinch points around specialist personnel. I am considering bringing in external expertise to advise in that regard.

Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal East, Labour)
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That is encouraging but, again, when commercial interests impact critical public services such as what should be operating out of Baldonnel, the State needs to act and look at those structural problems. One of them is the Coast Guard contract. It has been well debated here and in committee in the last Dáil and will be again. We have nearly €750 million of public funds helping to underpin a commercial enterprise at the expense of Baldonnel. That will need to be looked at. I accept, and I think the Tánaiste accepts, that this cannot be done in, as he put it, a whack-a-mole scenario; it has to be done strategically. This has highlighted a structural problem which needs to be resolved in the coming months and years.

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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One of the other TDs raised earlier the Garda helicopter. Again, for those of us who need the Garda helicopter - certainly, it is regularly used right across my constituency - I would be concerned about that. I do not know if the Minister has any influence in that regard, but if it is not going to operate at weekends, is there another site we could use for that? It is critical for supports in all sorts of ways. Whether it is a serious accident or a serious incident, the Garda helicopter is brought in. The idea that we would not be able to use it on the ground is simply appalling. I would be interested in the Minister's views on that.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I agree with the point Deputy Smith makes about the need for that kind of structural, strategic look at those key pinch points, those personnel, and I take the point he makes about commercial activity.

To Deputy Crowe's point, without over-commenting on it for a load of operational and security reasons, there are workarounds in place to ensure support for the Garda in terms of the Garda air support unit and our air ambulance situation. I assure the House that contingency planning is in place in this regard. The Government was asked by our military leadership to do something this week, that is, to provide the service commitment scheme. I was told that if we did, it would be quite impactful in getting the hours back up and running to where they need to be. We need that follow-through now as quickly as possible, and that is where my focus will be.